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What's up, everybody? It's Simon from Leica. Hey, we're out in Northeast Texas checking out Jim Chapman Lake aka
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Cooper Lake. Jim Chapman Lake was built on the Sulphur River out here in North Texas from the prairie land and
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it was primarily built for water and for flood control. Now this was a really long drawn-out process because the you know kind of propositions and the surveying started in the 1950s
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but construction didn't really get underway until the 80s and it wasn't officially impounded until 1991
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It was originally called Cooper Lake, named for nearby Cooper, Texas, and it was renamed in 98
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after Congressman Jim Chapman. Also notable about this lake is that it has an earthen dam
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Not many modern lakes in the area have an earthen dam. It's really wide
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It's not very tall and it has a county road basically that goes across it and so it is a
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really long pretty cool drive and you get to see a big piece of the lake by driving across it. Jim Chapman Lake
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comes in just under 20,000 acres in the 18 to 19,000 range and it has a maxed up to 50 feet
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Now because it used to be called Cooper Lake and because there's Cooper Lake State Park and there's Cooper Lake Wildlife Management Area
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but we call it officially Jim Chapman Lake, it kind of has two names, forget my drift. That said, Texas Parks and Wildlife
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does run most of the area around the lake between the two state park units and
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the Wildlife Management Area. Those are going to be your best access points to this lake. Fishing is decent here
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The usual suspects, largemouth, catfish, white bass. This lake is known especially for hybrids though and I find that really fun because I like chasing white bass, especially in the springtime and
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evidently the hybrid fishing up river in the spring spawn is awesome
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So I might be coming up here this next spring. For boating on Jim Chapman Lake, here's the deal
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not a lot of amenities. There are, you know, enough boat ramps, especially at the state parks. I would stick to the state parks for boat ramps
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Those are gonna be your best opportunities for those. No marinas. No other amenities really for boating. But once you're on the water
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awesome boating lake. It's wide open, uncrowded. There are islands. There's tons of shoreline. There's beaches and everything else, places to swim
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places to fish all over the lake. Really cool boating lake. If you're the type to prepare ahead of time, pack everything you need
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fuel up, all that kind of stuff, pack in, pack out. All right, if that's you
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great boating lake. If you like to roll up to the ship store and
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re-up your cooler, top off the tank, get back out there, not for you. Go somewhere else. If you like camping
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of course, there's the state park and then there's a private RV park too
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For the state park, there's two different units all under one park, you know, so it's technically
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administratively and branding-wise under Cooper Lake State Park. But there's two distinctly separate but equal
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areas to camp. Same thing on Ray Roberts. It's the same idea
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So there's Doctors Creek unit and then the South Sulphur unit. They have what you can typically expect from a state park
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They have the shoreline. They have the beach. They have the campgrounds
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restrooms, boat ramps, all that kind of stuff. So get out there and camp because this is a great lake
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So if you like camping, this is a great lake to come up and visit. If you like hunting
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let me tell you what, there is a ton of hunting land via the Cooper Lake Wildlife Management Area, the WMA
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That's also run by Texas Parks and Wildlife. It is available through the annual public hunting permit
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which is the $48, you know, kind of hunting walk-in and hunt permit
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Old-timers might call it a type 2 permit. It's what it used to be called. But you can also hunt big game in the WMA via
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Texas Drawn Hunts. If you don't know how to use the Texas Drawn Hunt system
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I did a video and then a follow-up because I actually want to hunt and
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what to expect from that, how to do it, all that kind of stuff. So you can check out that video
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I'll put a link to that below as well. If you like trails, there's plenty of trails around the area too
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Hiking, biking, horseback. So if you like hiking, there's a couple mile, couple two mile, three mile trails, hiking, biking trails
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There's also a network of over 10 miles of horseback riding trails
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There's a lot to love up here at Jim Chapman Lake. Come up and visit. Start your adventure at JimChapmanLake.com
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I'm Simon from Lake Ebbin. We'll see you out there
